What an exhausting yet exhilarating morning/afternoon of tennis from Roland Garros. After a rocky Sunday for both Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, things got even worse today with both guys standing on the brink of certain elimination. But then, perhaps, with the weather turning greyer the Tennis Gods smiled…

Djokovic, who shockingly fell behind two sets a round earlier to light weight Andreas Seppi, came out today with that needed spark and urgency racing out to a set and a break lead, taking JW Tsonga and the crowd virtually out of the match. But Tsonga recovered, got the break back and eventually took the second and then stunningly the third to lead 2-1.

In the fourth, things get about a bleak as they could get for Novak’s bid for a Djoker Slam. All told Tsonga held four match points in that fourth set but Djokovic squashed all of them!

Tsonga, who stated yesterday the pressure would be on Novak, simply couldn’t handle the pressure moments of scoring arguably the biggest win of his life – beating a world No. 1 on Chatrier. And just as he did down two matchpoints to Federer at Flushing, Djokovic met the challenge head on, embraced the pressure and the Serb breezed in the fifth to a 6-1, 5-7, 5-7, 7-6(6), 6-1 in 4-hours, 5-minutes.

While that drama was playing out on Chatrier, on Lenglen Federer was again fighting for his French Open life. A round earlier upstart David Goffin was up a set and two points from a second before Federer finally gained control. Today, Del Potro took the first and in a scintillating tiebreak did Goffin one better by snatching the second.

Del Potro was up two sets against a Federer who was still trying to win with his “B” game. The Swiss looked all but out of it against the Argentine who, after playing poorly himself early on, was just getting into dangerous groove.

But as Tennis Channel switched coverage back to Djokovic-Tsonga, Del Potro’s ailing knee reportedly became a serious issue. Del Potro slowed, lost some zip on his serve allowing Federer to grab an early break and effectively the match. Once Federer secured an early break in the fourth just like that the match was over.

Del Potro came to life breifly in the final set but it wasn’t enough as for a seventh time in his career Federer came from two sets down to win 3-6, 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-0, 6-3.

“I thought it was very good conditions for him,” said Federer. “I knew it was going to be tough anyway. I have been struggling to find my rhythm. I did feel it in the first set, even though he was up two sets. I was finding a way back and starting to feel better. [I was] just trying to figure out how to play a guy who returns from so far back on a slow court. Do you try to serve through him? Which I tried; [it] didn’t work. Or do I try and move it around a bit? And that worked a bit better, but it was really in the mix up that I found success.

“[The] second set was a tough set for me to lose, but he played a really good breaker and got the better of me. But I was happy that the first two sets took some time, because I did favour myself once the match got longer. I’m very happy with the way I fought and started in the third set, fourth set, and even in the fifth set, where, obviously, it was the toughest, because that was his last chance and his resistance maybe was the strongest there.”

For the losers, Tsonga and Del Potro, these are two very tough losses. Tsonga had four matchpoints and a guy with his firepower has to convert one of them. But the book on JW is that (like his French countrymen) he may not be able to mentally knock out the opponent. And in this case mentally he couldn’t handle the moment.

Del Potro also has the firepower but once again his body let him down. The oft-injured Argentine is the next new No. 1 in my mind, but that’s only if his body can hold up. And if it was the knee that did him in as the reports indicate, that’s going to haunt him.

“I played a great match, even [in] the third and fourth sets,” said Del Potro. “He started to play much better than in the beginning of the match.

“I didn’t serve well, and this is why I lost [the] intensity in my game. I had opportunities. I missed them. When he had opportunities he won, and that made the difference. I didn’t have any chance to win until the first game in the fifth set when I had [one] break point [opportunity].

But credit to both Federer and Djokovic. Neither had any business winning today. Tsonga should have closed one of those MPs and had Del Potro’s body held up who knows.

And Federer and Djokovic might not hit the ball the hardest or run the fastest or posses the most lethal forehands, but between the ears these guys are better than just about everyone else in the game, and that’s why they win. And it showed again today.

Now both guys will get a much-needed two days off before replaying their 2011 semifinal on Friday. Federer, who seems to be fit – though Federer fans appeared ready to claim a bad bad at the hint of any loss today – has a full 48 hours to hire a search party to find that “A” game because I still haven’t seen it. He’ll need it for the semifinals.

Djokovic is playing a bit better than Roger, but he’ll need the two days to recover from back-to-back five setters and also work out some kinks in his game before making that final historic push. The Serb just isn’t the same man he was a year ago.

So both guys should be good and ready to go Friday. And right now, with the Federer’s poor play I have to tip Djokovc as the slight favorite. But really, it could come down to which guys plays like crap less. I hope not. Regardless, both should be thankful they are still around and in the end that’s what matters most.

128 Comments for Divine Intervention? Djokovic, Federer Get Out Of Jail Winning 5-Set Thrillers At French Open

Lou_tennisfan Says:

What a fearless display of tennis by Nole. This person knows how to handle crunch situations and not once but again and again he has shown us that there is no better player than him to make such strong comebacks! Just Brilliant!

Who could have asked for more – four players of varying brilliance and different skills and philosophies, hurtling at various speeds towards the exit or the door to the semi-final. Rarely can Federer and Djokovic have played at exactly the same time in a slam, and almost certainly not against such quality opposition.

It was difficult to know which way to look, impossible to look away. “It was a great match,” Djokovic said. “Unfortunately there had to be one winner and one loser. He was the better player for most of the match. I was fortunate to come back from four match points. It was incredible and I hope you all enjoyed it.

“[There were] no nerves. I played really well at the start. It was difficult to stay focused. The crowd were incredible for Jo. If he won today it would have been well deserved. I hope to have another great match, like we did in 2011 [when Federer won in five sets]. My programme between now and then? A TV programme. No tennis probably.”

Federer said: “Congratulations to [Novak]. I’m still struggling to find my rhythm. I favoured myself as the match went longer. I’m happy with the way I fought.”

The Djokovic-Federer matches are also ALWAYS EXTREMELY EXCITING!! Their 2011 French Open and 2011 US Open semifinals are classified among the greatest matches in tennis history by the ATP. Their 2010 USO semi was also amazing. 2010 US Open semi was where Novak got “enlightened” again Fedal and got super-motivated before embarking on his mission to the top.

in the end both played well…delpo won that second set fed should have never lost…and djoker well he is the djoker…he greatly escaped…incredible…felt for tsonga but now we have the best possible semi!!!! it is def. a toss up
50/50 imo

fed has a victory in him but djoker??? do not know how many cat lives are left..incredible.

Q. It started raining at one stage. How was the court? Was it a problem for you to play your shots or to move on the court?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: No, because Federer’s shots were slower, as well, so the conditions have an impact on both players. I don’t think they had an influence on the quality of the game. The two others are still playing, so they didn’t stop because of the rain.
As I said, I gave him an opportunity during the fifth set; he took it.
Good for him.

Q. Did you feel you could win the match at one stage after the end of the second set? Did you start thinking, Okay, this match is going to be for me?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: Well, until the very last ball I thought I could win, even if I was down 5 2 during the fifth set. I have enough experience now and I can come back even when the match is very complicated and we’re in the fifth set.
That’s why I was never discouraged. Well, I always think that Federer has far more experience than I have and he can win a match more quickly. Against another player I could have won a break and I could have won perhaps, but it was Federer.

but it was Federer. Indeed. It was.

Juan Martine should be proud of his comeback. I hope he is here to stay.

Can’t comment on Novak’s match because I only watched bits while watching Fed. Fed started poorly, spraying far too many UEs as he’d been doing the last few match.
The positive was his movement was excellent. He also served fairly poorly for most of the match.
From mid set 2 he was playing better, and the end of set 2 was some top notch tennis. Although Del Potro won the 2nd set it was clear Fed was going to be putting up a great fight.
If you just look at the UEs by set, you’ll see how much Fed improved over the course of this match. For most of the third set, Del Potro still was moving very well, but after a while he either got discouraged or had pain, because he really stopped chasing balls for a little bit. At the fourth he started to look like he just wanted to throw the set away. But for the fifth he really fought hard, but Fed was just too good at that point.
I wonder, for those who watched NOvak: how was his movement today? It looked quite bad against Seppi.

1- fed himself acknowledged that delpo’s knee injury MAY have helped his cause today- had that not been a concern for delpo would it be WRONG TO SUGGEST that delop may have done better in set 3-5? i don’t think it would be.

2- fed, GENERALLY, has been the POORER of the 2 in this tourny. H’es dropped 1 more set so far this tourny- 3 of which to ARGUABLY to players who most have not heard of prior to this tourny.

3- Djokovic has been RELATIVELY SOLID on his SERVE this tourny- moreso than fed IMHO.

4- Djokovic has the GREATER MOTIVATION for the win- fed’s legacy is secure, novak has a ONCE IN A LIFETIME oppurtunity.

So in summary, i think it shall be novak in 4. fed has A CHANCE since novak isn’t playing that well (2 back to back 5 setters)BUT HE NEEDS TO WIN 1ST SET in order to win. IF novak wins 1st set, it COULD BE A SS win for djokovic.

1- serve was SOLID- he put in 1st SERVES on MP and took control of those points- BAR 1 POINT jo had NO CHANCE on the other 3, ALL DUE TO A GOOD SERVE IMHO. 67% 1ST serves in.

2- movement was BETTER- BUT these conditions DO NOT SUIT him ( a couple funny looking shots at times, due to an AWKWARD position he had himself in).

3- STILL TOO MANY UEs- he does seem to MISS a fair bit still.

4- seemed VERY NERVOUS at times- at the end of set 2 and 3, IMHO, he lost those sets due to nerves. Set 3, for example, he could have played a DTL shot that would have given him the point in that crucial moment YET he didn’t go for it- as wilander said due to him BEING UNSURE of himself.

GENERALLY speaking, better than the seppi match, STILL NOT too great (lost 2 winnable sets to jo) and BEATABLE- BUT is playing BETTER than federer atm, so he SHOULD win.

Thinking of the match a bit. Novak didn’t play that bad. He started very well, winning most of his serve games without dropping a point, his backhand was excellent, and he positioned himself much better that two days ago.

The court was very slow and we could see the difference in power between Jo and Nole. Jo’s FH down the line was a killer, Nole’s FH wasn’t. And the rebounds were lower that usual and that helped Jo’s BH. I believe that, the way he played, he would have won a set or two against anybody, and on this kind of court it is the game to bother Rafa, especially since Rafa likes to slice on his BH to get time.

Jo also proved that he has a big ego, a big heart: the way he served aces and winners on break points was breath taking.

he lost it in a breaker due to lack of free points on first serves.
..he played very good in sets 3,4 and 5 so i do not know what you are all talking about!!!

both players will be motivated 100%%% remember fed has a great chance of number 1 after wimbledon and nole can win 4 in a row…amazing match up but it should be rogers turn to prevail this time …at least i hope so.

nole and fed play always entertaining matches vs each other …i expect nothing else in the semis…and both have a chance to win vs nadal even here at roland garros…one just cannot quit believing it!!!

I am so disappointed with the coverage for this French Open. Why would a “grand slam” schedule 2 block-buster matches (QF), AT THE SAME TIME!???? It doesn’t make sense. I wanted to see both matches in their entirety! But the networks kept switching back and forth. In fact, I didn’t hardly see any of my favorite player (Federer)when he won the 3, 4, and 5th sets! This is the ONLY grand slam where they schedule the quarterfinals at the same time (unless they are backed up by rain).

Then after Tennis Channel said they would cover the Djokovic match through the end – ESPN2 came on and what did they cover? The Djokovic match!!!! So I had the Djokovic match on 2 different stations – yet no Federer match.

We (the fans) got ripped, regardless of which match you really wanted to see today.

I think the last time Federer won a match down matchpoint was agains Lopez in Madrid 2011. As for Djokovic, the guy just knows how to find a way to survive when down multiple match points. And the manner in which he plays those matchpoints: playing aggressive, not afraid to miss, is simply inspiring. Both Federer and Djokovic have struggled this tournament, yet both have found a way. Lets hope for another highly entertaining Fedole!

Of course, there will be some pressure. I agree. But there will be some on Fed too, who has lost 6 of 7 last matches against Nole. I believe Nole will play much better.

I would like to repeat that today, although he had lapses (most notably at 3-1 in the second set) I don’t feel he played bad. Jo was in ferocious mood, and made Nole look bad for a moment. Also, the ball on his backhand were most of the time very low, so it was difficult to be in position to play a good BH down the line.

mat4, some good quotes, thanks for posting that article. Tsonga was inspired today, as the people in most of the write ups I have read say:

“Against Djokovic, however, Tsonga fought hard on both wings and proved once more he has major material. He did not blink against the moment or against the formidable pressure from Djokovic.

Throughout the match, as it became clear that Tsonga on this day was playing inspired, championship-level tennis. The crowd at Chatrier grew more ambitious and emboldened, sensing that something special, something historic and personal was occurring”.

mat4, I think Murray has a very good shot to win against Ferrer, if he plays like he did versus Gasquet in sets 3 & 4. He hasn’t beaten Ferrer on clay, but he’s 5-4 in their H2H. And if a player wants to, he can impose his game on almost any surface. You don’t have to play clay-court tennis on a clay-court as Tsonga showed today.

Wog Boy, definitely he let up in the second set: Nole was up a break. But still, Jo played some pretty great tennis in the match.

Novak has made a habit of winnning nearly lost matches and here he has done it yet again. That shows the tenacity and fighting qualities of this Champion. Nevertheless, you need some luck to turn things around and Novak had them in plenty. Bad luck to Tsonga who I thought play brilliantly in the 2nd, 3rd and even 4th sets. But it is the end that matters and Novak is the winner. By virtue of this, he has still kept alive his hopes of a Grand Slam. But that is possible only if he lifts his level of play.

As regards Roger Vs Del Potro, the former won deservingly and it is wrong to attribute body issues for Del Potro’s defeat. Once you are into the match, you are supposed to be fully fit and raring to play. If Del Potro’s didn’t hold up, then he is unfit for five set Tennis. He is just 23 while Roger is 31 and here we are seeing excuses for his defeat. If a five setter hurts, it should logically apply to Roger and not Potro.

In all probability, it should be Nadal Vs Ferrer in the other semi final unless Murray surprises me. Remember he is 0-3 against Ferrer on Clay and it is difficult to imagine that he would get one better with Ferrer in such fine form. Ofcourse anything can happen in Tennis but still the edge will be with Ferrer and the match in his hands virtually.

Divine Intervention, You Say? Was wondering something like that myself.

About The Tennis Gods:

They have smiled on, and protected the Rod Laver records. Through all the technological changes and advances in tennis; even as humans devise methods and routines for squeezing more and more out of the anatomy and physiology of gifted athletes; great players have come and gone, some have come close; and yet, Laver is still favored by ‘Them.’

It feels to me, with all his talent and luck, they like this Novak Djokovic very much. Do they favor him enough to show him the wormhole, the shortcut, to that Universe where Career Slam souls, past and present, abide? Even perhaps gift him the special Djokerslam this very year?

Recently, I was in a Californian desert on vacation. Unfortunately, it was not during the Indian Wells tournament like last year. Nevertheless, I drove the the short distance to the grounds and sat on the court where I watched Roger, Rafa, and Nole practice in 2011. It was the day of the solar eclipse, had I been in the right latitude to see it in full, but I wasn’t. The moment came and went, with barely a notice of a partial eclipse. However, for a tennis fanatic like myself, it was a nice try, and kind of a semi-religious experience by my own standards.

Who will be the winner at FO? I don’t know. Always tempted to open a sports book account and bet, I remind myself I’m too lowly to be privy to such Tennis God secrets, plus too tight with my money to bet; best stick to the ritual practice of Bracket Challenges for free.

So back at the condo, I opened the brackets for FO. I thought Serena would win on the WTA side. Wrong. My mortal guess on the ATP side, Nadal. But somehow I wasn’t able to put Nadal on either one of my Tennis-x Kimberly brackets, though I meant to have him on one, really I did. It was probably a sub-conscious mistake, because I’ve been pleading to ‘Them’ to show Djokovic the wormhole shortcut this very year and at last, silence the Fedal War Sandbox Fights. hehehee ajde, ajde, ajde, Nole, ole, ole :D :D

Tennis Gods like to Keep me guessing:

And that’s the truth. As in other years, my pleas and sacrifices might be in vain, since Tennis Gods are only a figment of my imagination, anyways. That’s okay. I’m satisfied that Nole will get the Career Slam eventually, if not this year, another year.

“As for del Potro’s drop off, it remains a mystery. Pressed on whether his knee affected him, he refuses to bite: “No,” is all he says. He chalks the loss up to his poor serving, and Federer’s improvement, yet del Potro took a painkiller at the end of the second set, and there were moments when he wasn’t running for routine shots. And while he was blitzed off the court in the fourth, he came back and competed in the fifth. An Argentine journalist who knows del Potro says this is one of the few times that he has no idea what happened to him. ”

“Asked about his upcoming semifinal with Djokovic, Federer speaks for both of them, and for us. “We’re looking forward to it,” he says. The truth, from the truth.”

“Tsonga reacts the way most French players react to the support here: He rides it at times, and lets it ride over him at others. Sometimes a long chant will produce an inspired winner, other times it leads to a duffed volley into the bottom of the net. After an indifferent first set—he appears to be out of position on roughly half of his shots—Tsonga has a 6-5 lead in the second. He’s taken the match from Djokovic, with a string of rifled backhands and lunging, improbable drop volley winners that the Serb can only applaud. There are enough great shots that Djokovic has to find new ways to show his appreciation. He begins by clapping his racquet strings, but soon moves to the thumbs up sign. Tsonga reaches set point and, like a quarterback, quiets the anxiously stirring crowd by holding up his racquet. When he breaks for the set a few minutes later, it seems that all 15,000 people—including the beret biter below me—shoot their arms out from their sides at once. ”

“The worst for Jo is still to come, in the tiebreaker. He wins four straight points, including one with a broken string, and another with a brilliant flick backhand crosscourt, to go up 4-2. But instead of continuing to attack, Tsonga backs up and hopes that Djokovic will miss. If there’s one thing we’ve learned about Djokovic over the last four majors, it’s that if he’s up against a wall, he stops missing. It’s true again, as he comes back to win 8-6. Of particular note is the return of serve that he hits off a very good Tsonga delivery at 6-6; few other players in the world could have done it as well, and it draws a forehand error. This is, essentially, Djokovic’s version of Federer’s “Shut up!” The crowd barely makes another peep, as a gutted Tsonga goes down 6-1 in the fifth.”

“As in other years, my pleas and sacrifices might be in vain, since Tennis Gods are only a figment of my imagination, anyways”. THERE WE GO- hit the nail on the head there conty! We ALL believe what we WANT to believe- NO ONE knows what shall happen. Let’s just see how things unfold…..

true story. being down in cali at empty Indian Wells and was just laughing at myself in the shower when I thought of that moment *somewhat embarrassing* but I thought if to anyone, it would be here to tell it.

But you have to click on the music link to get what I was thinking about the FO final. I just don’t know who will be doing the clubbing and which guy is on the receiving end. Hoping it’s not a Fedal :/

Somebody’s going to get a clubbing. Great matches coming up. And I’m not in any way insinuating that I know the winner. The favorite is Nadal, of course. I was only day-dreaming sitting there with my BF patiently waiting while I walked around, then sat at practice court #17. He started walking back to the air-conditioned car without me, lol. But he is the same way about Formula One, crazy fan. At least he gets me.

Tignor’s write-ups from court-side are the best! Oh to have such a job!

@lisa: WOW- I LIKE CONFIDENT fans like yourself! Good luck to fed! He’s 4-4 versus novak at slams. He had MP in 2 novak wins (USO 10,11) and was of course diagnosed mono at AO 2008. So he does have a GOOD record against novak at slams. BAR AO 10 ( he got outclassed) And AO 08 (mono) he’s had STRONG CHANCES against novak! Fed can do ti for sure!

@skeez: IF fed loses in SF he’ll lose 480 points from last year in this tourny. Leaving. Halle aside (250 tourny) he’ll need to make finals at wimby in order to start gaining ( he was Qtr at wimby last year). Novak can ONLY gain here, rafa cannot.

skeezer, Fed has finals points to defend, which is 1200. Nole defended his points from last year today (720), so he can’t lose any. If Fed loses he loses he loses 480 points. I don’t know anything about the number 1 race. I don’t follow it.

Well, I haven’t checked what exactly my DVR recorded from Tennis Channel. I was streaming ATP matches from my laptop and Djokovic-Tsonga was just getting started; Federer was getting beat by Delpo. Have not watched both matches completely.

I’ll be really po’d if I don’t have both. I guess the only solution is to record the entire day tomorrow, because I won’t be home at all. Tennis Channel has basically sucked in its coverage over the week-end. I won’t pay for it, if I still need to stream to see live matches. TC showing Davis Cup reruns over live matches this week-end was frustrating.

@skeez: IF fed loses in SF, rafa in finals- fed is new no.2 by a MERE 50 POINTS! IF fed wants no.1 ( he does), IMO he needs to win since novak COULD gain 1280 points IF he wins. Add on the 480 points fed loses, then 1760 is a MASSIVE difference between fed and nole after RG!

From what I’ve seen so far, it was lucky for Federer that Delpo had to have a MTO and his knee was in too much pain to keep up a high enough level – serving, pushing off the injured knee and restricted movement. I don’t care what Delpo says in his post-match comments, he’s trained to be politically correct. I’m not convinced about Federer’s form right now. And what I’ve seen of Djokovic – Tsonga, I have to pick Nole over Fed. It will be interesting to see how Murray does tomorrow. I expect Nadal to come through.

I was surprised with the way delpo just stopped moving at all in the match during the 4th set. I could see so many shots passing by from fed which he did not even make an effort to go after. Looked like something was bothering him. I am happy to accept that the tennis gods are with Fed because with the game he is currently playing, he will definitely need them in the next match.

@conty: I COMPETELY AGREE with you re 9.47 post. Fed can win BUT he needs to step up big time, otherwise it could be Rome Sf all over again. Having seen BOTH in qtrs and earlier, DJOKOVICS the CLEAR fav in this one!

I HOPE I am wrong, BUT my gut instinct tells me that post fridays the talk will be about how djokovic has joined nadal as being a TOUGH task for fed at a GS slam. Love the guy, BUT genuinely feel Friday maybe BRUTAL for him. IF he loses, I hope he goes swinging! No TKO please novak!

I would say it’s better for Fed fans that novak wins the french and not rafa.

even though novak gains, he has 5600 points to defend on grass through USO – so fed can always get ahead there.

a loss for rafa here will put rafa almost on the backfoot as the rest of the season is relatively pro-fed than pro-rafa. starting with wimbledon, i dont think there is any tournament rafa has won more than fed. the best is canadian open where both got 2 titles.

conty – sometimes players don’t bother chasing balls when they see they don’t have a chance in the set, saving themselves for the next set. Why bother try to chase balls when you are 4-0, two breaks down when the other guy is playing very well??

I didn’t see the whole match so I am just guessing, but it does feel this might be the case because he started playing better in the 5th set.

hate novak like he is the black plague, but what he has done the last 18 months is jaw-dropping. he carved a niche for himself in the fedal era!

he has handled the GS run better than sampras and nadal and if he beats fed on friday, he will equal federer’s best runs when gunning for 4 in a row. i still think rafa will get this french and do himself a favor, but who knows!

tru fan :

4 AO to 1, 4 indian wells to 2, 2 miami to 0. 5 dubai to 1.

it is only on 1 surface that rafa does this to fed. 8monte carlo to 0, 6barcelona and 5 rome to 0. 6 fo to 1. hamburg, fed has 4 to 1 and madrid, fed has 2 to 1.

a loss at the french will almost certainly put an end to rafa’s aspirations
–
So, you have “considered” the possibility that your Humble Highness may actually lose at Roland Garros this year. Wow. You must have free time to burn.

Novak has just two more rounds to achieve the most coveted title in Tennis, “The Grand Slam” and what better way to do it if he has Roger and Nadal on the way and he dislodges them. If he wins this one, I am sure Novak will go on to win the other majors too flying with confidence. But things aren’t going to be easy against Roger as well as against Nadal if he manages to reach there. But still if any player has a chance against Rafa on clay, it is only Novak and may be the other player I would say Ferrer. Roger is aged and beating Novak and Nadal back-to-back would be too much for him in my opinion. He might well surprise me but I give only 10/100th of a chance for that to happen.

“conty – sometimes players don’t bother chasing balls when they see they don’t have a chance in the set, saving themselves for the next set. Why bother try to chase balls when you are 4-0, two breaks down when the other guy is playing very well??”

“I didn’t see the whole match so I am just guessing, but it does feel this might be the case because he started playing better in the 5th set.”

I had to shut down my streams and fly out the door, Kiimi. But, had watched Djokovic take control of the 1st set in his match and Delpo looking better than Federror, taking the 1st set.

I kept checking the scores while I was out (driving) yikes, I know. I thought wow, either Delpo’s knee is really injured, Federer has found God-mode, or, Delpo is somewhat concerned with something about his knee but just waiting to turn it on in one last burst, winning in the 5th. That’s what I was thinking by watching the score.

While watching tonight, I was thinking Delpo was a) really hurting when he pushed off his knee. b) or, possibly hurting but maybe conserving and would mount a comeback 5th set. c) what I came to mostly think is that Delpo was determined not going to retire in a GS match but neither was he going to risk further injury when attempting to go for shots. Class act, Delpo. Smart move. That’s an injured knee. I don’t know what’s injured about it but I hope it is a Rafa-like tendinitis and he can get that wonder treatment. I dunno.

It was a sad situation, imo. Federer did what he had to do and finished him off quickly as possible. But it took Federer awhile and if I didn’t know the outcome already, I may have been concerned when Federer was serving out the match. He’s had trouble lately in other matches closing, all on his own. I am now happy Federer won. Clearly he’s better than if Delpo would have been able to keep pushing hard in pain. Gilles Simon vs Ljubici in Paris-Bercy comes to mind, forget which year. No way was Delpo going to get through and be competitive in the final or semi in that shape! Roger was the best man to come through.

After watching Nole and Jo, that was a much tougher contest for Nole than Federer had with Delpo but imo, Djokovic had to play better today to get to the semi. Nole is younger and I’m guessing his recovery time is better than Federer’s. Nole showed more signs of good form potential for the final than Federer, imo. But who knows. I don’t rule out Federer making the final; certainly you know me well enough; I can be very wrong!

Just preparing for a Fedal though I have this on my ipod for listening. It’s dedicated to Federer on the long bike ride, Sunday, while I think of Federer losing to Nadal for the nth time at an FO final. Also have a bunch of happy music but this will fit my initial mood that morning for another FO Fedal:

Novak confidence should be too high now. He would be itching to take on Rafa now. This is the type of match he needed to spur him against NAdal in the finals. He won a very high quality opponent who would have taken out Roger in 3 sets with his play, but Novak could withstand him and take him out.

Still Novak is not hitting his CC BH, which was his money shot against Nadal last year. I believe he will use Roger’s match as practice session to play against Nadal. We can see him going for his CC BH shots more against Roger.

Hope Roger gives Novak a decent match so that he will not lose his rhythm while playing against Nadal in Finals. Had Novak played a better opponent in Rome semis, he would have had better rhythm against Rafa in finals and most likely won the finals.

Just now watching a chunk of Djokovic-Tsonga (I only caught the tiebreak + final set live, having been glued to Federer-Del Potro). It was very grueling stuff. Tsonga had real trouble powering through the slow clay, although he did very well. Also came to net a lot.

Djokovic definitely won on heart and determination, and not because his game was in sparkling form. Tsonga gave way to exhaustion and disappointment in the last set (he’d just won another five-setter, to win another was too much). So I still have no idea whether Djokovic will be able to raise his game in the semis.

With Federer it was more like his game was off coming into the match, and then he got it together after two sets.

I believe Del Potro, knowing he was physically compromised, played ultra-aggressively in the first two sets and then used the third and fourth as recovery time for the fifth. A risky strategy, but one made necessary by his condition.

He earned break points in the first game of the fifth, which Federer fought off. That was probably the key point of the match.

After going down two sets, Federer had no margin for error. One screwup, one bad service game in the third and fourth, and he would have been toast. If Federer hadn’t quashed Del Potro’s charge early in the third and fourth, I’m sure the Argentinean would have been happy to take advantage and give his all to try to break Federer and close it out.

He had to play flawlessly for two sets just to draw level–and then one more flawless set, against an opponent who moved deceptively well despite his knee issues. The fifth set was the toughest to win and Federer didn’t make any mistakes on serve.

Del Potro himself said he was very confident in the fifth set, and perhaps against any other player he would have been able to break back from 5-2 down, but not Federer.

The same history. Tsonga and del Potro out, Djokovic and Federer, one more time showed their fierce mentality and their willpower. But one of them will be in the final. Would be another five set match like Us Open 2010 and 2011? Would be another 4 tight match like RG 2011? who will win? and how much energy if their match prolongs, one of them will he have on Sunday?
one thing is sure: Nadal will eat his opponent on Sunday pretty handily.

No, I don’t think so. But that does not mean he cannot beat Nadal on clay. Just refer to last year clay matches. Even in 2009, he came very close to beating Nadal.

Just because be is not better than Nadal does not mean he will never beat him right?

But Fed is not that relevant for the French Open. Djokovic is. If Nadal plays a frech Djokovic, he is toast.

Yea, exactly. That’s why I was not too excited about Roger beating Del Po y’day. He should take rest and start practicing in Grass. He has both Wimbledon and Olympics coming up there. He should start focusing on it.

you seem to be having diarrhea through your mouth. the amount of filth you post!

Ok, relax. You don’t really get to be so emotional. We are just discussing tennis right?

King Federer says: djokovic is going to treat his match against fed as a practice? this guy wouldn’t have made the semis if tsonga/seppi didn’t play their matches like they were practicing.

I’m not really sure about your point. Are you saying Tsonga is a weak opponent. He is the only guy who has beaten Top 3 in the GS. His level of play y’day against Novak was similar to his level against Roger at Wim 11. So he would take a huge confidence in beating a healthy and a high level playing opponent.

But for Roger, he knows in his mind, he got better of DelPo only after his knees let him down. He is not going to be confident. He knows his rhythm is not there. I just see that his matches against Novak gets over pretty quickly unless it’s USO. He can’t even take Novak to 4 sets in AO. He gets thrashed by him in Dubai and Rome. Novak is a tough match up for him.

Roger’s only glory for past 2 years seems to be his Semis victory against Novak at FO. But that was a different Roger playing a different ball at FO.

the matches on sunday, djokovic & federer were heart attack city, but federer got thru. i wanted tsonga but i knew once they went to a fifth djokovic would take it(mentally tuffer). unfortunately for federer, i dont think he will get by djokovic. federer won delpo match because delpos performance went down. djokovic won because his performance went up. i just dont c federer winning djokovic w/the way he has been playing. i dont c djokovic winning nadal w/the way hes been playing either. so boringly predictable as we all knew the fo would be, nadal will surely win this

I am going to watch this match all over again. I LOVED it when Roger showed his passion. For anyone who thinks that Roger ever tries to “tank” a match, God, you only have to watch this to understand how passionate he is about playing anyone. The match point scenario back at the USO in 2009 must still be hidden away somewhere in his mind, but what an idiot person in the crowd for shouting “out” during the actual point being played. I can’t believe these people are real tennis fans. The french crowd really are one on their own.

^To the nasty horse comments, first, horses are beautiful creatures. I was thinking the other day that Sharapova is like a fine race horse. Second, Rafa’s face doesn’t look anything like a horse. I think his features are absolutely gorgeous, though I know not everyone likes that fierce look. Sounds like some people are jealous of a manly man!